Glossary
Key terms and definitions used in QAID.
A
Accessibility Testing
Automated WCAG 2.1 compliance scanning. Detects issues like missing alt text, poor contrast, and unlabeled form inputs. Runs automatically after each element crawl.
Action Items
AI-generated prioritized recommendations for improving test quality, synthesized from all project data. Found on the Actions page.
Analysis
API Collection
A group of related API requests organized for testing. Collections have a name, optional base URL, shared authentication, and variables.
API Testing
Feature for creating, organizing, and running REST API test collections with assertions and variable chaining. Generates Playwright API test files for CI/CD. The page showing test health analytics across all test runs — pass rate trends, flaky test detection, and consistently failing test tracking.
Assertion
A verification step in a test that checks if a condition is true. In UI tests: "expect the button to be visible." In API tests: status code equals 200, JSON path contains value, response time under 1000ms.
Auth Profile
A named set of login credentials (URL, field selectors, username, password) for authenticating during crawling and test execution. Multiple profiles enable multi-role testing.
Auto AI Analysis
A toggle on the Test Run page that enables automatic AI classification of test failures after a run completes.
Auto Capture (Page Snap)
A visual regression capture mode that takes a simple screenshot without prerequisite actions.
B
Baseline
A reference screenshot used for visual regression comparison. The "correct" state of a page.
Blacklist
A list of pages excluded from crawling and testing. Blacklisted pages have status blacklisted.
Bug Detection
QAID feature that automatically identifies application bugs like dead links, broken pages, and placeholder text.
C
Consistently Failing
A test that has failed 3+ consecutive runs. Listed in the Analysis page as a high-priority issue.
Coverage
The percentage of testable elements that have associated tests. Calculated as: Tested Elements / Test Target Elements × 100%.
Crawler
The component that visits web pages to discover URLs and extract elements.
Criticality
A 1-5 score indicating how important a page is. 5 = Critical, 1 = Minimal.
D
Diff Analysis
Comparison of two snapshots to identify changes in pages and elements over time.
Dynamic Content
Page content that changes between loads (timestamps, counters, user-specific data).
E
Environment
A named configuration (development, staging, production, custom) with its own base URL and auth profile. Production environments enforce production-safe mode.
Element
An interactive component on a web page (button, link, input, etc.) that can be tested.
Element Extraction
The process of scanning pages to identify and catalog all interactive elements.
F
Failure Classification
AI-powered categorization of test failures into: real bugs, expected failures (site changes), or flaky test issues.
False Positive
A bug detection or test failure that isn't actually a problem.
Flaky Test
A test that inconsistently passes or fails across runs without code changes. Detected automatically by QAID's analysis.
Frame Locator
Playwright selector syntax for elements inside iframes: frameLocator('#iframe-id').locator('#element').
H
Help Chat
AI-powered conversational assistant that answers questions about QAID based on official documentation. Accessible via a floating button in the bottom-right corner.
I
Iframe
An inline frame embedding external content within a page. QAID can extract elements from same-origin iframes.
Importance
Classification of an element's priority: Primary (core), Secondary (supporting), or Tertiary (minor).
J
Job
A background task in QAID (page discovery, element extraction, test generation, etc.).
L
Learning
A pattern or insight QAID has captured from test generation and validation to improve future results.
M
Manual Test
A structured test case with steps designed for human execution.
Mismatch Percentage
In visual regression, the percentage of pixels that differ between baseline and current screenshot.
P
Page Discovery
The process of crawling a website to find all accessible pages.
Page Status
The current state of a page: discovered, crawled, removed, or blacklisted.
Pixel Comparison
The technique of comparing screenshots pixel-by-pixel to detect visual changes.
Playwright
The browser automation framework QAID uses to generate and run tests.
Prerequisite Actions
Steps recorded before capturing a visual baseline (login, navigation, etc.).
Primary Element
An element classified as core functionality with highest testing priority.
Production-Safe Mode
A setting that generates tests using only visibility/presence checks, safe for production environments.
Project
A QAID workspace representing a single website with its pages, elements, tests, and settings.
Q
Quality Issues
Non-bug problems detected during crawling: accessibility issues, missing attributes, etc.
Quality Score
A 0-100 composite metric measuring project test health across five dimensions: Test Pass Rate, Stability, Coverage, Bug Freedom, and Visual Consistency.
R
Record & Snap
A visual regression capture mode that records prerequisite actions before capturing the baseline.
Regression
An unintended change or bug introduced by code changes.
Role-based Selector
A Playwright selector using ARIA roles: getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' }).
S
Scenario
A user journey or workflow that can be tested, like "user submits contact form." Scenarios are the primary test type in QAID.
Self-Healing
QAID's ability to automatically re-locate elements during test execution when selectors change, using live page analysis and content matching.
Scenario Test
A test that verifies a complete user journey rather than a single element.
Selector
A pattern used to locate elements on a page (CSS selector, XPath, role-based, etc.).
Selector Confidence
A score indicating how reliable a selector is likely to be.
Shadow DOM
A browser feature for encapsulating DOM elements. QAID cannot access Shadow DOM elements.
Snapshot
A capture of page and element state at a point in time, used for diff analysis.
T
Test Plan
A collection of organized tests with folders and groupings. Test plans are executed via Test Runs.
Test Plan Run (Test Run)
An execution of a test plan. Runs all tests in the plan (automated + manual) and tracks pass/fail results, duration, and AI failure classification.
Test Run
See Test Plan Run.
Test Target Elements
Elements that are eligible for testing (visible, unique selector, testable type).
Threshold
In visual regression, the percentage of pixel difference allowed before flagging a mismatch.
Token
The unit of text processed by AI models. Costs are calculated per token.
V
Visual Regression
Testing technique that compares screenshots over time to detect visual changes.
Viewport
The browser window dimensions used for screenshots and testing.
W
Wait Time
Duration to wait after page load before capturing or analyzing (allows JS to render).
Variable Chaining
In API Testing, the ability to extract values from one request's response and use them in subsequent requests via {{variableName}} syntax.
WCAG
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The international standard for web accessibility. QAID scans for WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA compliance.
Workflow
The sequential steps in QAID: Discovery → Automated Tests → Test Plan → Test Run → Analysis → Actions.
Z
Zero-Hallucination
QAID's approach ensuring AI never invents selectors—all selectors come from crawled data.